1953 French Grand Prix

  1953 French Grand Prix

Race details
Race 5 of 9 in the 1953 World Drivers' Championship
Reims-Gueux layout
Date	5 July 1953
Official name	XL Grand Prix de l'ACF
Location	Reims Circuit, Reims, France
Course	Temporary road course
Course length	8.347 km (5.187 mi)
Distance	60 laps, 500.820 km (311.195 mi)
Weather	Hot, dry
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	2:41.2
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Time	2:41.0 on lap 25
Podium
First	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Second	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Third	José Froilán González	Maserati
Lap leaders

The 1953 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 5 July 1953 at Reims. It was the fifth round of the 1953 World Drivers' Championship, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

Not only had the Reims circuit's layout changed, the name was different – both in regard to the same thing. The new, faster and slightly longer circuit bypassed the town of Gueux and as a result, the circuit was now called "Reims".

It is popularly known as 'the race of the century' because of the sixty lap battle between Briton Mike Hawthorn and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.^[1][2] Hawthorn won the duel after they reportedly swapped the lead at virtually every corner on the Reims circuit. In addition, after 500 km of racing, the four lead cars were less than 5 seconds apart.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Time	Gap
1	10	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Ferrari	2:41.2
2	24	Felice Bonetto	Maserati	Maserati	2:41.5	0.3
3	12	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Ferrari	2:41.9	0.7
4	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	Maserati	2:42.0	0.8
5	20	José Froilán González	Maserati	Maserati	2:42.4	1.2
6	14	Nino Farina	Ferrari	Ferrari	2:42.5	1.3
7	16	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	Ferrari	2:43.5	2.3
8	22	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	Maserati	2:44.4	3.2
9	46	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	Maserati	2:46.1	4.9
10	44	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	Ferrari	2:51.1	9.9
11	42	Prince Bira	Connaught	Lea-Francis	2:53.2	12
12	38	Bob Gerard	Cooper	Bristol	2:54.2	13
13	36	Stirling Moss	Cooper	Alta	2:55.7	14.5
14	40	Ken Wharton	Cooper	Bristol	2:55.8	14.6
15	34	Élie Bayol	Osca	Osca	2:56.9	15.7
16	26	Lance Macklin	HWM	Alta	2:57.2	16
17	28	Peter Collins	HWM	Alta	3:02.0	20.8
18	30	Yves Giraud Cabantous	HWM	Alta	3:06.7	25.5
19	50	Roy Salvadori	Connaught	Lea-Francis	3:23.0	41.8
20	6	Harry Schell	Gordini	Gordini	3:25.8	44.6
21	48	Johnny Claes	Connaught	Lea-Francis	4:06.5	85.3
22	2	Jean Behra	Gordini	Gordini	4:07.0	85.8
23	4	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	Gordini	4:07.4	86.2
24	8	Roberto Mieres	Gordini	Gordini	4:08.0	86.8
25	32	Louis Chiron	Osca	Osca	4:08.9	87.7
Source:[3]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	60	2:44:18.6	7	8
2	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	60	+ 1.0	4	7
3	20	José Froilán González	Maserati	60	+ 1.4	5	4
4	10	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	60	+ 4.6	1	3
5	14	Nino Farina	Ferrari	60	+ 1:07.6	6	2
6	12	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	60	+ 1:15.9	3
7	46	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	58	+ 2 Laps	9
8	44	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	56	+ 4 Laps	10
9	22	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	55	+ 5 Laps	8
10	2	Jean Behra	Gordini	55	+ 5 Laps	22
11	38	Bob Gerard	Cooper-Bristol	55	+ 5 Laps	12
12	48	Johnny Claes	Connaught-Lea-Francis	53	+ 7 Laps	21
13	28	Peter Collins	HWM-Alta	52	+ 8 Laps	17
14	30	Yves Giraud Cabantous	HWM-Alta	50	+ 10 Laps	18
15	32	Louis Chiron	Osca	43	+ 17 Laps	25
Ret	24	Felice Bonetto	Maserati	42	Engine	2
Ret	36	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Alta	38	Clutch	13
Ret	42	Prince Bira	Connaught-Lea-Francis	29	Differential	11
Ret	34	Élie Bayol	Osca	18	Engine	15
Ret	40	Ken Wharton	Cooper-Bristol	17	Wheel bearing	14
Ret	4	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	14	Transmission	23
Ret	26	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	9	Clutch	16
Ret	6	Harry Schell	Gordini	4	engine	20
Ret	8	Roberto Mieres	Gordini	4	Axle	24
Ret	50	Roy Salvadori	Connaught-Lea-Francis	2	Ignition	19
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Alberto Ascari	28
5	2	Mike Hawthorn	14
1	3	Luigi Villoresi	13
	4	José Froilán González	11
2	5	Bill Vukovich	9

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

1. "French GP 1953". sportscars.tv. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
2. Mathieu, Christian. ""The Grand Prix of the century" : Reims 1953". flyandrive.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
3. "France1953 - Qualifications". statsf1.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
4. "1953 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

External links

• ddavid.com: The French Grand Prix of 1953
• The Story of the Grand Prix – The Race of the Century
• French GP 1953